Quality of American Life, 1971 (ICPSR 3508)

The purpose of this study was to survey Americans about
perceived quality of life by measuring perceptions of their
socio-psychological condition, their needs and expectations from life,
and the degree to which those needs were satisfied. The data were
collected via personal interviews from a nationwide probability sample
of 2,164 persons 18 years of age and older during the summer of 1971.
Closed and open-ended questions were used to probe respondents'
satisfactions, dissatisfactions, aspirations, and disappointments in a
variety of life ... (more info)

The purpose of this study was to survey Americans about
perceived quality of life by measuring perceptions of their
socio-psychological condition, their needs and expectations from life,
and the degree to which those needs were satisfied. The data were
collected via personal interviews from a nationwide probability sample
of 2,164 persons 18 years of age and older during the summer of 1971.
Closed and open-ended questions were used to probe respondents'
satisfactions, dissatisfactions, aspirations, and disappointments in a
variety of life domains, such as dwelling/neighborhood, local services
(e.g., police, roads, and schools), public transportation, present
personal life, life in the United States, education, occupation, job
history/expectation, work life, housework, leisure activities,
organizational affiliations, religious affiliation, health problems,
financial situation, marriage (including widowhood, divorce, and
separation), children/family life, and relationships with family and
friends. In addition to broad questions about satisfaction with each
of these domains and their importance to the respondents, specific
sources of gratification and frustration are explored. Other
questions focused on life as a whole and the extent to which
respondents felt they had control over their lives (e.g., rating of
various aspects of life, (dis)satisfaction with life, personal
efficacy, and social desirability measures). Personal data include
sex, age, race, ethnic background, childhood family stability,
military service, and father's occupation and education. Observational
data are included on housing and neighborhood characteristics as well
as respondents' appearance, intelligence, and sincerity. An
instructional subset of this study is also available (see ICPSR
INSTRUCTIONAL SUBSET: QUALITY OF AMERICAN LIFE, 1971 [ICPSR 7516],
also prepared by Campbell, Converse, and Rodgers.) It includes
questions representative of the major areas covered in the original,
longer survey. A related dataset, QUALITY OF AMERICAN LIFE, 1978
(ICPSR 7762), continues the survey conducted in 1971.

Access Notes

Data in this collection are available only to users at ICPSR member institutions.
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This study is provided by ICPSR.
ICPSR provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis
for a diverse and expanding social science research community.

Universe:
Persons aged 18 years of age or older living within the
conterminous United States, exclusive of households on military
reservations.

Data Types:
observational data,
survey data

Data Collection Notes:

The NSF grant supported the analysis of the data and
the reinterview of 285 respondents in the spring of 1972. The
reinterview data are not distributed by ICPSR.

Methodology

Sample:
A national multistage area probability sampling of 2,164
persons (weighted to 9,561) was used. The 74 sample points, located in
36 states and Washington DC, included the two standard consolidated
areas (New York/Northeastern New Jersey and Chicago/Northeastern
Indiana), the ten largest SMSAs, and non-SMSAs that were either single
counties or county groups. First stage stratification of SMSAs and
counties was carried out independently within each of the four major
geographical regions -- Northeast, North Central, South, and West --
each of which received representation in proportion to population.

Data Source:

personal interviews

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: